James Ducheteau
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Posts posted by James Ducheteau
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3 minutes ago, JMichael557 said:
It is not the 2nd day as the Mack and others have been under observation for several weeks. IF and its a big IF, Ferguson is ahead of Mack on the depth chart then that is really bad news.
From what I saw of Mack on Sunday it has to be because of pass protection, he looked good running and catching, but that can not be said for his pass protection...on one play in particular he was completely lost and he ended the play facing the QB, like he was going to sack him...it was real ugly...and the few other times he was in pass protection it was not much better.
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From what I saw, he looked really solid running and catching the ball today...really shifty ...did carry it loose a couple times it seemed, but otherwise has great burst, showed some good foot work on a spin move in a crowed area, and was able to get small up the middle to pop out the other side...the only knock I would give him on the day was pass protection, on a few plays he was absolutely lost out their and when he did seem to know what to do he was still very slow getting to his man. But given he's a rookie that's to expected...all in all I thought it was a good day for him.
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46 minutes ago, WarGhost21 said:
Hello Everyone!! I'm back again with one of my personal favorites for the second year in a row. Here is a quick link to last seasons edition:
Much like last season, many people are underselling the Colts. After back to back 8-8 seasons, many are saying that the Colts are the third best team in the division, which is outrageous to true Colts fans such as myself. In my honest opinion, we are still the best team in the division overall, and I feel that this offseason we even pulled away from the pack a little bit. So without further ado, I present to you the 2017-18 edition of "5 Reasons to Believe the Colts Can Make the Super Bowl!"
1) Outstanding Draft in Year 1 With Ballard
I am absolutely stunned as to how meticulously and perfectly executed a plan in this draft. Hooker and Wilson are immediate starters and will upgrade our pass defense tremendously. Basham should also contribute quickly in the pass rush rotation, and Mack will add the juice to our backfield that we haven't seen in a long while. A couple mammoths of men also came our way in Stewart and Banner, and each has the talent to become a talented back-up at their respective positions. Nate Hairston has a shot to rotate with Darius Butler in slot duties out of the gates, and the talent to win that position as well. And last but not least, Anthony Walker has all the tools to become the leader of our LB core, and if healthy, I would have considered him at least a second round pick. In full, the Colts picked up 4 instant-impact players in the draft, something that is almost unheard of, especially not from a first year GM. Ballard absolutely dominated this draft, and I can't wait to see what he does next season!
2) O-line Improvement
This one goes out to all the people out there who said the Colts should have taken an offensive lineman round 1. Sure, at the beginning of the season, our pass protection was laughable. But looking at the last 7 games of this past season, Luck was only sacked more than twice in one of those. The only explanation for that is that the O-line is beginning to mesh. It has been noted before that one of the major reasons for Luck's bloated sack totals is that he holds the ball in the pocket much longer than many QBs. Rewatching those 6 of the 7 finally games last season, though, Luck had plenty of time even after releasing the ball on most plays. In conclusion, our left side will be solid, if not great. The right side, which is where everyone wants a new player in the mix, has the potential to be even better than the left, if the meshing continues well. Please don't sleep on our line.
3) Wait, We Were Actually Active in Free Agency?!?
As a Colts fan, that's virtually unheard of. We are a team known for holding back during the free agency period and signing second tier guys later. This season, Ballard threw us in the exact opposite direction, going after almost every big name free agent out there. We even grabbed one in Jonathan Hankins! Our defense was very, VERY much improved in the offseason, as we got younger, faster, and more talented everywhere! Take for example Vontae Davis now being in the league the second longest of our defensive players, and he's just 28! I'm excited to see where the next season takes us. I fully believe in the possibility of Big Hank's quote coming true: “Right now I feel like we got probably the best defense in the AFC. On paper, it looks good, but we’ve got to go out there and prove it.”
4) Pagano's Prove-It Year
Everyone knows that both players and coaches step up their game in a prove-it year, hoping to get more money and more opportunities. If Chuck follows this "policy", then we should do pretty darn well this year. There isn't much more to say about this topic, so I'm going to move on to my favorite.
5) (Once Again) Our Division
I had this as a topic last season, and it still applies in my eyes. I don't think our division in the cellar of the league anymore, but none of the other AFC South teams can push for 11 wins, which the Colts got to consistently for 3 years in a row to start Luck's career. To win this division, I believe we only need to win 10 games. The Titan's look dangerous on offense, but they still have mainly a ground-and-pound approach, which is why Hankins is here. Their defense is still quite leaky, so we should have no issue putting points on the board. The Texans have a rookie QB and a horrendous offensive line like us, so Watson isn't going to be anything special right out of the gates. Yes, their defense is good, but they did lose Bouye, so the CB position could be vulnerable. The Jaguars had another great offseason, but when they had a good one last season, they won LESS games than the previous season. Let's just say I'm not worried about them.
Thanks for reading the second edition of this annual series! I really enjoyed writing this, and had many more reasons that I had trouble cutting out, but thank you all for the support! See you all at Super Bowl LII
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I think Stewart actually has the talent to become a starter
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I'm leaning toward Grover at this point. I just have feeling this guy is going to ball out.
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The Replacements
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Wasn't Leak on the practice squad last year?
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Has anyone seen an update on Geathers health?
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This made me go watch some Sanders highlights....I miss that team
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I think it's got to be CB if who ever's available is even close to BPA. I wouldn't be upset with the same thinking in the 3rd either. We may not end up with a dominant pass rushers but our secondary could quickly become a major strength and with the LB's we have brought in I think we'd definitely be getting some coverage sacks at the least. And as long as the O-line progresses as expected we could be in a position next year to really gamble and jump up and grab a great edge rusher. Lots of if's in this but the coverage route is definitely something that I think can be an effective strategy.
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1 minute ago, DougDew said:
WTH? Most of what you just copied actually supports my point.
They say the same thing, which is what everybody says. Is a gifted athlete with one year experience at the position, who's elite skill is tracking the ball in the air and making plays on it.
They say that over and over and over.
So what ELSE does he do well?
Heck, Darius Butler tracks the ball well from the FS position.
Yes Butler tracks the ball well, but I don't think any one would describe Butlers ability as an ELITE skill, really I don't think anything that anyone does on this defense would be described as ELITE skill...that alone should make you feel better.
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2 minutes ago, BProland85 said:
What do you guys see as Green's role going forward now? I'd hate to give up on a talented athlete in just his 2nd year. Could Indy employ more of a cover 3 utilizing 3 safeties?
I think that greatly depends on Green himself, if he takes that leap he could easily be starting towards the end of the year beging of next year..for now I think he plays in sub-packages and as relief for any injuries and of course special teams. He may never be nothing more than that and his second contract would reflect his real value, but with Hooker & a healthy Geathers he doesn't HAVE to be anything more than a solid back-up for now.
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14 minutes ago, DougDew said:
Just food for thought. Conley. Lattimore. Two CBs that were top 15 talent.
How many times does Hooker just sit back and wait for the ball knowing he has two elite college CBs playing in the backfield.
OTOH, we have a year older Vontae and nobody.
Hope he doesn't have to perform like a traditional NFL FS does, because those skills apparently aren't talked about much, so I assume they are nothing special.
Maybe we'll get our CBs and he'll grow into the position, and that's the plan. But if anybody thinks he's going to make plays with the Colts the same way he did at OSU, that those highlights and stats will automatically convert to play for the Colts, its not going to happen unless we get some good CBs at some point the next few seasons.
It could be said the other way too, that those CB's were good because they knew they had Hooker over the top...basically the same argument people make about Sherman and Thomas.
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My hope is 4QB's, 2RB's, 1 WR and 1 TE all go before our pick....that would be BEAUTIFUL!!
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On 4/20/2017 at 2:32 PM, Superman said:
It's not that either/or. My problem with RBs is positional value, as influenced by career longevity, contribution to wins, and replacement value.
In McCaffrey's case, I don't think he's a prototypical RB, so I think he can have a longer career, and influence the game in more ways than just carrying the ball. But there should still be questions about his value relative to similar rated prospects at other positions.
I think of it like this, if you have a chance to draft Edge you do it, but if you had to choose between Edge and Freeny, it's clear you go Freeny
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Looks good but I'm hopeful its CB in the 2nd and RB in the 4th
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I think what we are or were truly missing was a healthy Luck and a defense that could cover TE's and RB's. So if Luck's shoulder is 100% and we have picked up or do pick up some one who can cover the TE's and RB's we are going to be much better. Yes we don't have the best at any position but we won 8 games with the garbage we put on the field last year , so as long as Luck is good to go and we can stop giving up 3rd and 10's to the back out of the flat I think 10-12 wins is very realistic.
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8 minutes ago, stitches said:
How's that saying go...nothing good ever happens after midnight
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8 minutes ago, rock8591 said:
Gotta take a rusher in the first 2 rounds, it's a deep class.
In both rounds???
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Regardless of how the rest of the year goes, I think those last 4 games are going to be the story of the season. If we can go 4-0/ 3-1(on a close one), I'd actually like our chances heading into the playoffs.
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7 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:
The draft is 6 days away. This period is one of my favorite times of the year outside of the regular season. To close out I decided to present two different options because one is a scenario in which the most common picks are gone by #15 and Ballard goes against the grain. So here they are:
Option 1:
R1: Gareon Conley, CB OSU: At 6'0" and running a 4.4 40 at the combine, Conley isn't as touted as Lattimore but he's a perfect fit in our press-man scheme. He can start day 1 opposite Vontae.
R2: Raekwon McMillan, ILB OSU: He's been one of my favorite prospects since the beginning of the CFB season. While people like Zerlein and PFF seem to question if he'll be able to get better in coverage I've seen him make enough plays on RBs and an occasional TE to be sold that he can. But he's a beast against the run. This is a guy who had 100+ tackles on a 2015 team that featured Darron Lee and Joshua Perry.
R3: Jourdan Lewis, CB Michigan: Considered a 2nd rounder until a supposed domestic dispute issue with his gf occurred a month ago. It doesn't appear to be serious but I think it knocks him down a round. Jourdan is one of the highest ranked CBs on PFF and may have the best ball skills of any corner in this draft. He's undersized at 5'10" so it's easy to project him to the slot. But I think he can play outside in certain packages. He's the same height and ran about the same 40(4.5) as 1st round pick Vernon Hargreaves.
R4: Tedric Thompson, FS Colorado: An underrated prospect who was award PFF's award for the best defender in coverage (at ANY posit). Ballard said the two areas of this draft he thinks are deep are Safety and TE. Thompson has grade A ball skills and is good value here. He's 6'0" and only ran a 4.60 at the Combine but he's got all the tools. He challenges Green for the starting spot in 2018.
R4: Brian Hill, RB Wyoming: at 6'0" and 230 pounds Hill is a high upside RB who ran a 4.54 at the combine. It's supports the 1,800 yards and 22 TDs he put up this season. On tape he has great quickness in the hole and breaks off big runs in a blink. Makes good cuts+reads and while he didn't catch the ball a lot in college, he looked comfortable doing it at his pro day. Sleeper pick here.
R4: Jake Butt, TE Michigan: As Ballard said, the TE class is really deep. He also loves competition. Butt falls because of the depth of the TE class and gets scooped up by a team who doesn't mind redshirting him while his ACL heals. Low risk, high reward pick.
R5: Joe Mathis, Edge Washington: An underrated pass rusher who also comes with a bunch of injury concerns. He's also dinged for his average athleticism and playing on a super talented Washington line. Mathis is better than people think and can be coached up behind Sheard and Simon. Reminds me of his former teammate Kikahua on the Saints.
Thats my most ideal mock. But if a lot of the picks we usually mock to the Colts are gone here's a version of a "What might actually happen" mock that I also did last year. This is based on who we've shown interest in and Ballard's comments:
R1:Malik McDowell, DL MSU
R2: Budda Baker, FS Washington
R3: Shaquill Griffin, CB UCF
R4: Alex Anzalone, ILB Florida
R4: George Kittle, TE Iowa
R4: Howard Wilson, CB Houston
R5: Jamal Williams, RB BYU
That is all folks. More than likely the draft will be a mix of the two drafts though. I'll take any comments below and I look forward to draft day as much as the rest of you do!!!
I really like the first one, addresses a lot of issues and sets us up to be able to allow Davis & Butler to walk next year
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17 hours ago, CptHooligan said:
Did you really just try to equate trusting a Football GM to betrayals of indigenous in the past? Seriously?
He said "that's a problem of the world today", that people don't trust first...to me that's crazy talk..that kinda thinking will get ya killed...I could have used a more modern reference like don't look in a strangers trunk or something but I it's just such a historically bad idea to trust first that I went historically.
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21 hours ago, krunk said:
It's already been explain AD Nauseum on this form countless numbers of times. It's not that simple, but you're making it very simplistic just to bash the philosophy. Its really very clear we won't be taking a QB. I'm sure somewhere in your mind you know this.
Haha..I do not know that..I don't REALLY know how Luck's shoulder is or how the leadership feels about it. They very well could take a QB in the 3 or 4th depending on who is there and where they rate them on their board.
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35 minutes ago, will426 said:
A lot of you people mentioning qb as bpa hypothetically speaking are just being extra..none of these qbs are even first round material that being said why keep using them as an example lol
Well the draft has more than one round doesn't it? At some point your going to be in a round where a QB's talent might out weigh others
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1 minute ago, Jake stone said:
Come on man, obviously he's not going to take a qb, besides none of these qbs are going to be BPA.
At some point they could be...like the 3rd or so...then what, you draft a qb?
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Irsay hinting at picking Barkley
in Colts Football
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I understand we need a better line, i also understand we need a dominate pass rusher and the RB postion isn't the our biggest need in anyway, but how long did we go without a 1,000 yard rusher? Wasnt it like 4 or 5 years, and even then it took signing an ageing Frank Gore to do it. People say you can get a 3 down back in later rounds, and you can but its not a gaurented thing. With Lucks shoulder and his return uncertian added to the fact that we have the 3rd pick and I am much more open to taking a RB this year. Positional value g as its place, but i think when your picking this high and have a chance to get the best player there is at at position that changes a bit...it's why I also wouldn't mind getting Nelson even though position value for gaurds is in the same boat. I honestly just wamt us to get a dominate player, really dont care what he plays